Eric Schneiderman and the meaning of strangulation

By:
Kate Manne,
The New York TimesMay 9, 2018

In this New York Times opinion piece, Kate Manne, assistant professor of philosophy, explores the allegations against the former New York attorney general and the false labeling of his alleged assaults as "choking."

"The domestic and intimate-partner violence prevention community generally insists on calling such violence “strangulation,."Choking is a term for an internal blockage of the airway from, for example, a piece of food “going down the wrong way” and getting lodged in the windpipe," Manne writes. "When used to refer to the deliberate form of abuse that is strangulation, “choking” is very much a misnomer — and a dangerous one: It minimizes.

"Nonfatal manual strangulation is a well-known precursor to intimate- partner homicide. Victims of such attacks are some seven times more likely to become the victim of an attempted homicide by the same perpetrator. The New Yorker article noted the irony that Mr. Schneiderman himself had written legislation that established stiffer penalties against those who strangle. “I think this will save a lot of lives,” he predicted."